The Need to Knead

I have recently bought a pasta maker and am enjoying myself making (and eating) fresh pasta. I hope by the end of next month I'll have nice sculptured arms from all the dough kneading I've been doing. Pasta dough needs to be kneaded (preferably with violence) for at least 15 minutes to activate the gluten in the flour. Gluten makes the dough elastic, so it won't tear when you roll them out. I find kneading is a great way to release tension. You can punch, fold, throw, stretch, etc. and the dough never hits you back.

You can't use just any flour you like for pasta. The flour needs to contain more gluten in it. I use grade 00 flour (the one Italians use for their pasta). I don't know if the flour is easy to get, I bought mine at this small Italian delicatessen around the corner.

Ok, let's see what you need to make your own pasta. For every 100g of flour, you'll need 1 egg (make sure the egg is at room temperature when you use it). Let say you are making pasta for 2 people, then you'll need 200g flour, 2 eggs, salt and some water. Make a "vulcano" with your flour (see above), put the egg(s) in the middle, add some salt if you like. Use fork / finger to break the yolk and mix the whole thing until it mixes well together. Now you need to get down and dirty, start using your hands to knead and fold the mixture until you get a smooth & elastic dough (it takes about 15 minutes to get to this consistency). If your dough is too dry add a few drops of water and if it's too wet add some flour. Leave the dough in a cold place for about 30 minutes before you can start working with it (cutting and shaping it to any kind of pasta you like).

So, there you go, fresh pasta. Fresh pasta only needs about 4 minutes cooking. Be careful not to overcook it as it will turn soggy & soft. Good pasta is cooked 'al dente', soft but a bit chewy in the middle.

ps.: The picture of me kneading was taken with a tripod & selftimer, in case you're wondering.